Review
A Family in Therapy
A Family in Therapy. Peter McCallum and Moshe Lang. (1989). Melbourne: McPhee Gribble/Penguin. 291. $14.99, paper.
This book provides a transcript of a series of therapy sessions with one family who agreed to the videotaping of their sessions for educational purposes. Accompanying the transcript are brief commentaries made by the authors from their observations of the videotapes. The views of a team of professionals who examined the transcripts and tapes are also provided at the end of the book. The result is a stimulating volume which gives the reader a rare opportunity to witness a family’s journey through therapy. The brief commentaries throughout provide clarification and elaboration about the session content and the invited professionals’ comments give a variety of perspectives which allow the reader to compare against one’s own interpretation.
The book is well set out, easy to read, and informative. The combination of therapy transcripts and expert commentary and interpretation makes it a fresh and engaging volume. The flexibility in theoretical stance demonstrated by Lang does not take away from his therapeutic interventions but rather provides an exciting framework from which he operates. The book has wide appeal, particularly for those training in family therapy.
Review by Christine Senediak, Merrylands Community Health Centre.
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Reference:
Senediak, C. (1990). A Family in Therapy. Australian Journal of Psychology, 42(3), 338.